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About Paschal

Paschal is the Fine Gael TD for Dublin Central and in June 2017 was appointed as the Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform. Prior to his appointment as the Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform, he served, from May 2016-June 2017, as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and from ...

Minister Donohoe and Minister Coveney congratulate Paris on being selected as the new location for the European Banking Authority

20th November, 2017

Earlier today (Monday), at a meeting of the General Affairs Committee in Brussels, Paris was confirmed by Ministers as the new location for the European Banking Authority (EBA).

The decision was taken by a vote of the 27 EU Member States that will remain after the UK leaves the Union. After the third round of voting, Dublin and Paris were tied with 13 votes each. The selection of Paris was made by the drawing of lots.

The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform, Paschal Donohoe T.D. said:

“I congratulate Paris on being chosen as the new seat of the European Banking Authority. It is important that there is a smooth transition and successful relocation for the Authority, its staff and their families.”

The EBA plays a vital role in the European system of Financial Supervision and it is essential that its work, which helps to protect consumers and contributes to the Union’s financial stability, continues during the transition. The Central Bank of Ireland is an active member of the EBA and will continue to work with the Authority to achieve high quality prudential regulation and supervision across the banking sector.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D. added:

“The Irish Government made a very strong offer for the EBA to be located in Dublin. I wish to acknowledge the work carried out across government departments and agencies on our bid, which was well-received around Europe and viewed as strong and very competitive.”

Minister of State with special responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance, Michael D’Arcy T.D. stated:

“Ireland has a thriving financial services sector, which employs over 90,000 people with most recent annual exports of over €33 billion. The strengths of our bid, in terms of having a strong financial services centre and our ability to maintain the business continuity of the EBA were well-recognised during my engagements with my European colleagues. We will continue to promote Ireland as the destination of choice for international companies seeking to locate within the European Union.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

The European Banking Authority is the EU agency tasked with achieving a harmonised and integrated approach to banking supervision across the EU Member States. As part of the negotiations associated with the UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU it is necessary for the European Banking Authority to relocate to an EU Member State from its current location in London prior to the UK’s exit.

The core areas of the EBA’s work are regulatory policy, supervisory convergence and risk assessment, as well as consumer protection and financial innovation. The core functions of the EBA are the establishment of a single rulebook on banking supervision, harmonised understanding in the application of the rulebook by supervisors, monitoring and maintenance of high standards of supervision, and strengthening oversight of cross-border banking groups.

The decisions on the new locations of the two agencies (EMA and EBA) took place in the margins of the General Affairs Council (GAC) held in Brussels on the 20th of November. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D., and the Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee T.D., attended the meeting.

The decisions were made on the basis of a voting process by the 27 Member States that will remain in the Union following the UK’s exit. Each selection process had a maximum of three rounds of voting with Member States having three votes each in the first round, and a single vote per Member State in the subsequent rounds.

Eight Member States submitted offers to host the European Banking Authority in Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Paris, Prague, Vienna and Warsaw.

Ireland’s bid highlighted the strengths of Dublin, with its significant financial services sector and efficient transport links to other European capitals, as ideally suited for the Authority’s relocation. Ireland has a positive track record with hosting international organisations and has proven to be an attractive location for international staff of these organisations.

Dublin offered the least disruptive location for the EBA due to our close proximity to the UK, which would help minimise the disruption for the staff of the EBA.

Ireland is also a well-established and vibrant financial services centre, and is home to some of the biggest names in financial services globally.

The number of global banks located in Ireland is increasing with Dublin being the European location for global banks such as Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, while existing banks are also expanding their presence following the decision of the UK to leave the Union.

Our diversified financial services centre would have provided a large pool of highly qualified individuals which would be available in the event that some EBA staff ultimately choose not to move from London.